The Lovers' Comfort of the Fool
by Zerokai9
Summary: All Rise was expecting was a nice lunch with her boyfriend, but Yu isn't feeling so hot on his date with Rise due to his past experiences. Meanwhile a mysterious group watches from the Shadows... A Yu/Rise Story.


**(A/N): This is a story I've wanted to write for a while. I really like Yu/Rise and I wanted write at least one story featuring the two, as well as give my own take of Yu's character. With that said, please enjoy.**

**Persona 4 is copyrighted by Atlus.**

0o0o0o0o0

Sunday 10/12; Sunny

"C'mon, Grandma! I look fine!" Rise Kujikawa complained to her grandmother, who was currently adjusting her orange winter dress.

"Nonsense, Rise. You want to look great for Narukami-kun, don't you?" Rise's grandmother responded as she smoothed out a wrinkle in the dress, winking as she mentioned Yu. Rise blushed slightly at the mention of her Senpai.

"I don't think Senpai would care about a few hiccups in my outfit." Rise argued, "Besides, we're just having lunch together, not going to a fancy dinner."

Rise's grandmother just smiled in response to her granddaughter's annoyance. Rise had been talking about Yu since she came back from her disappearance, and had asked her grandmother numerous times on how to get his attention. Her grandmother just smiled and gave only cryptic advice, like "Love is like a river, your lover will flow down eventually."

After what seemed like forever, Rise's grandmother was finally satisfied with her granddaughter's appearance, and let her out the door. "Goodbye, Rise! Good luck with Narukami-kun!"

Rise waved back before making her way towards the hilltop. _"I'm not worried." _She thought to herself, _"Senpai's always knew exactly what to say. I'm sure he'll be great! He's so cool and confident…"_

0o0o0o0o0

_"All right, Yu. Stay calm." _Yu Narukami tried to assure himself,_ "You've faced shadows, exams, and King Moron's speeches. Something like this shouldn't too difficult to accomplish…"_

Yu sighed as he sat down on the bench behind him, placing the paper bag in his hand down beside him. Digging into the pocket of his black pants, he pulled out his phone and flipped it open, revealing the text Rise had sent him fifteen minutes ago. Yu stared blankly at the letters before him:

I'm on my way Senpai! Can't wait to see u! XOXOXO

-Rise

Yu was nervous. He was more nervous than he'd ever been in his life. He was going out on a DATE. With Rise.

It had only been a month since he asked Rise to be his girlfriend. She was absolutely ecstatic, and accepted without much of a thought. Yu wasn't sure why, but for some reason, Rise was… special… to him. As he hung out with her more and more, he felt more and more attracted to her, sympathizing with how she needed to wear a "mask" almost all the time. And after comforting Rise after her breakdown at Sozai Daigaku, he finally realized his love for her when walking her home. Afterwards, they "officially" became a couple.

Of course, they agreed to keep this fact a secret, even to the other members of The Investigation Team. Rumors flew fast, and Yu didn't feel like reading hate mail and death threats every day. Looking around, Yu searched for any sign of Rise, but saw none. As he peered into the paper bag next to him, Yu thought back to how he agreed to this in the first place.

0o0o0o0o0

_(Morning)_

_Turning the page on __Men in History__, Yu thought about what he could do today; He had woken up an hour ago and had breakfast with Nanako, watched Tanaka's Amazing Commodities only to find nothing of interest, and was now reading to pass the time. Yu was considering paying a visit to Marie when his phone went off._

_"Hello? This is Narukami speaking." He answered without even looking at the caller I.D._

_"Geez, you don't have to be more formal with me, Senpai." A fake-hurt voice sounded over the line._

_"Oh, hey Rise," Yu smiled, "Do you need anything?"_

_ "Well Senpai, I was wondering if we could hang out together this afternoon. Just the two of us." Yu could practically see the blush on Rise's heart-shaped face as she said this. "It would be our first real date after becoming a couple, you know? And no, the Summer Festival doesn't count."_

_"Want to have lunch at the hilltop we watching the fireworks at?" Yu suggested without even thinking, a rarity for him "…I'll make the lunch." He added in hastily, remembering how the events of the cook-off left his mouth burned, stomach sick, and taste buds eroded. He internally shuddered at the thought._

_"You don't want any of my special, homemade dishes of love?" Rise whined dramatically._

_"Maybe later. And besides, what kind of boyfriend would I be making you do all the work?" Yu remarked._

_"*Giggle* I'll see you at the entrance, Senpai." Rise said before the line went dead._

_Yu looked at his clock. It was almost eleven o'clock. He decided to make the lunch now so he wouldn't be late to Rise's date._

0o0o0o0o0

_"Crap, I'M the one who made the date in the first place!" _Yu remembered.

Looking away from the two carefully wrapped bentos, Yu thought back to his days in Kyoto, the town before Inaba. Back then, he would have excused the thought of him going out with ANYONE to be a joke, a very ironic joke in his eyes. Back then, he never would have bothered getting close to anyone, ever since that time…

"Ah, Yu-chan!" An elderly voice snapped Yu out of his memories. Yu looked to his left to see the smiling face of Hisano Kurosa, his Social Link for the Death Arcana.

"Kurosa-san." Yu smiled as he greeted her. Hisano sat down next to Yu, setting her cane on her lap as she did. The old widow then looked at Yu's face and began to study it through her black veil.

"Is something bothering you?" Hisano suddenly asked the grey-haired teen.

"…Nothing's wrong, Kurosa-san. I'm just waiting for a friend of mine." Yu nervously semi-lied.

"I thought you knew better than to lie to your elders, Yu-chan." Hisano scolded.

"Sorry." Yu apologized, "To be honest… I'm… dating someone… for the first real time." Yu admitted embarrassingly.

Hisano just smiled, "It's alright, Yu-chan. I felt the same way back when I first started dating my husband." The widow then sighed and looked down at her feet, "He told me that he sweated about four buckets whenever we were together before our marriage. It's natural to be nervous on your first time for anything."

"You're right." Yu agreed, "I should tackle this with an open and calm mind."

_"…Especially since I don't have Ishtar with me… How did I forget that?"_

"Senpaiiiii~!" Rise's voice made Yu jump out of his thoughts for the second time that day. Yu looked to his right to see Rise running as fast as she could in her long orange dress.

"That would be her." Yu said standing up, "Thanks for the advice, Kurosa-san."

Hisano smiled, "Well, I wouldn't feel right not to repay you for all your help towards myself, now."

Rise soon reached Yu. "Are you ready, Senpai?" She flashed one of her cute smiles at Yu.

Yu simply nodded, "Let's go." The couple then began walking up the hill. About halfway, Yu remembered that he forgot the lunches he prepared, and quickly rushed down to get them.

"You know, I never thought I'd see the day were you forgot something like that, Senpai." Rise smiled as Yu ran up to her with the lunches in hand, "Were you so dazzled be my appearance that you forgot our lunch?" She asked dramatically.

"Yeah… let's go with that." Yu rubbed the back of his neck as the couple walked up to the hilltop.

0o0o0o0o0

"Mmm, that was delicious, Senpai!" Rise exclaimed as she passed her empty bento to Yu, who proceeded to place it his bag.

"Thank you." Yu responded.

_"So far, so good." _He thought. So far, the two had discussed regular topics, such as their home life, school, and occasionally dipping into the topic of the TV World.

"…So Senpai," Rise began, "What do you… think about our relationship?" Before Yu could respond, Rise continued, "I mean, we're a couple, but we don't know much about each other, right? Our likes, dislikes, y'know…" Rise trailed off awkwardly, but Yu just smiled.

"Well, there's a first time for everything. What's your favorite food?" He asked.

"Well, tofu's kind of grown on me 'cause of the requirements of show business. Working with Grandma kind of helped that liking a little bit." Rise smiled.

"I'm fond of sushi, myself." Yu said as he leaned back on the bench they two were sitting on. "…I got nothing else to ask." He said after an awkward silence.

"Same here." Rise admitted.

More awkward silence. Yu averted his normal stoic gaze away from Rise, trying his best to hide his embarrassment. It frustrated him how he knew nothing about dating, flirting, or ANYTHING relationship-related. And for some reason, this made him feel inadequate for Rise. She was the one throwing herself into his arms, and he honestly had no idea on how to react like a boyfriend should.

"…Senpai, what do you think about our relationship?" Rise's question snapped Yu out of his inner rent. Yu took a quick glance at her face only to look back after seeing her concerned face. Not wanting to disappoint her, Yu decided that it would be best to tell the truth. He trusted Rise, after all.

"Admittedly, I didn't really think I'd be in a situation like this."

"Huh?" Rise let out, obviously not expecting that answer. Yu continued.

"I've always been -what's the right word here, afraid? Yeah, afraid.- of relationships like this. Afraid that I'd screw up, embarrass myself, or generally become the universe's personal punching bag." Yu spoke in a melancholic tone as he looked down at some bugs in the grass.

"You sound like you speak from experience." Rise said after yet another long pause.

Yu simply nodded, "When I was little, and when I lived in Kyoto, I… liked this other girl. I don't remember exactly why, I just assumed it was love at first sight. We actually were fairly good friends with each other. But eventually, my parents got a job somewhere far away from Kyoto, and the next thing I knew, I had to say goodbye to her. But we promised to remember each other, no matter what happened. And I did what we vowed, for years on end."

Rise stared at Yu. It was ironic, in a way. Here she was, listening to Yu talk to her about his life stories, instead of it being the other way around. "Did you ever see her again?" She prodded Yu to continue.

"Yeah, but it wasn't the way I was hoping it would be." Yu closed his eyes in remembrance. "Eventually, I did get back to Kyoto, and I found out that she was living in the same house since the time we were kids, so I went to go say hi to her." Yu then visibly grimaced, surprising Rise. Normally, Yu kept his cool, even when what was happening at the moment was way out of his control.

"What happened?" Rise asked, both wanting an answer and wondering if she was letting Yu go a bit too far.

"Simply put, she had no clue who I was." Yu said plainly, but his face said otherwise.

"Senpai…" Rise grabbed Yu's hands gently, hoping to comfort him.

"After that, friendship really meant nothing to me. Combined with all the other friends I had to leave behind due to my parents' jobs, I just stopped caring. I would go with the flow in society, but I would never try to reach out to others, for fear of them forgetting about me like she did." Yu sighed, "Bored yet?" He asked Rise with a sad smile.

"If friendship didn't mean anything to you…" Rise started, but Yu cut her off.

"To be honest, if it weren't for the murders, I would be hanging with you guys right now. I would've tried my best to blow off Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko, avoided Kanji like the plague, and probably not have considered meeting Naoto or especially Teddie. And you… well, I was probably the only person who DIDN'T care about you coming to Inaba." Yu looked into Rise's brown eyes, "Don't get me wrong, ever since I've getting attached to everyone in the Investigation Team, I've enjoyed my time in Inaba. This town… it's grown on me." Yu smiled.

_"…And even then, I still have to leave…"_

"That's probably the most I've ever heard to talk." Rise smiled, now understanding why Yu comforted her at Souzai Daigaku during her breakdown.

"Yeah." Yu smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised if that's the most I've talked my whole life. Thanks for listening, Rise. I really trust you with this, you know?"

"I understand, Senpai." Rise replied as she surprised Yu by throwing her arms around him.

"R-Rise! What about…"

"I don't care if the paparazzi see us, Senpai." Rise assumed him.

Looking around to see no one watching, Yu slowly put his arms around Rise. "Hey Rise?" He asked into her ear.

"Yes?"

"Can you call me Yu, please? I have enough nicknames in this town."

"Yu… Okay, Yu!" Rise said, sounding out the admittedly foreign name to herself.

The Fool and the Lovers continued to embrace, their silent emotions resounding across the wind into the town below the hill.

0o0o0o0o0

…

…

…

"…So, why are we here, again?" Kanji asked Naoto as he glanced away from the couple he was watching for the past few minutes and hid behind the bushes next to Naoto, along with the rest of the Investigation Team.

"Chie-senpai and Yukiko-senpai saw Rise-san and Yu-senpai together like this, and when Teddie heard the news, those three immediately thought invading on two friends' privacy was a good idea." Naoto responded sarcastically.

"Oh, right. But how'd we…"

"SHH! They'll hear us!" Chie silenced them as she peered over the bushes at the Investigation Team's leader and navigator.

"…So, is this what scoring is? It seems kind of boring." Teddie asked.

"Nah, they'll probably do it somewhere after this. Yu's just warming her up- OW!" Yosuke's perverted speech was interrupted by a slap upside the head from Yukiko.

"We are DROPPING the scoring business!" Yukiko threatened through the blush on her face.

"Ooooh, so Sensei is just performing the mating dance with Rise-chan. YOU DA MAN, SE-MPH!"

"I swear, we need to do something about this bear." Chie said as she tried to keep Teddie hushed with her hand over his mouth.

"'s why you guys want to spy on Yu-senpai and Rise again?"

"Hey, Yu and Rise are getting together for lunch." Yosuke said, "Doesn't that seem a LITTLE suspicious?"

"No more suspicious than spying on two of our friends." Naoto pointed out.

"We… we don't know what Yu might try with Rise-chan." Yukiko blurted.

"Out of all the guys here, I think I'd trust Yu-senpai the most when alone with a girl." Naoto argued. "No offense, Kanji-kun."

"Nah, I totally agree with yah there."

"Hey look, their leaving!" Yosuke interrupted as he, Yukiko, and Chie quickly hid their heads from the approaching couple.

0o0o0o0o0

"…I'm not surprised Nanako figured it out. She did wish for a Big Sis on Tanabata." Yu said to Rise, telling her the time when Nanako told Yu that she'd figured out his crush and relationship.

"I noticed how perceptive she was when I was at your house during finals." Rise said. Suddenly, she stopped and looked at the bush to her left. Following suit, Yu rubbed the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

"Stealth REALLY isn't one of our strong suits."

"Kanzeon was screaming at me the entire time. Did you guys really think you could hide from us?" Rise chided the seemingly normal bush. And then the couple continued walking as if nothing had happened.

"HEY! WE'RE EXPECTING AN EXPLANATION, Y'KNOW!" Yosuke called after the two as the rest of the Investigation Team climbed out of their hiding spot.

"Tomorrow at the headquarters, after school!" Rise called back as she and her boyfriend walked away from the hill.

0o0o0o0o0

**…Man, that took longer to write than I was expecting for a one-shot. I might do some more Persona fics in the future. And by might, I mean most likely will.**

**Even still, thanks for reading.**


End file.
